Lake Charles, LA 70601 Frost Dates
Lake Charles, LA: when does the frost end?
Typically, the last spring freeze lands around 02/14, roughly 170 days out. Fall's first freeze usually shows up around 12/07, roughly 299 days after the last spring frost.
The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map puts Lake Charles in Zone 9a (20 to 25°F average annual minimum); frost dates are NOAA's 1991-2020 station normal, not this year's forecast.
Stretching the season past the first frost
With roughly 14 weeks until Lake Charles's first fall frost, a row cover or cold frame is what stretches the last few weeks of harvest here.
How much risk comes with planting early here
02/14 is the middle of 30 years of NOAA records, not a promise. Getting tender plants in by 01/16 carries real risk, frost has hit that late in about 9 of 10 years here. Wait until 03/11 and only about 1 year in 10 sees frost after that.
Lake Charles against the rest of the dataset
About 299 days separate Lake Charles's last and first frost, putting it 4,149 of 40,283 ZIP codes nationally. Within LA, it ranks 179 of 710.
Learn more
Before leaning on 70601's figures: local microclimates explains what one yard in Lake Charles can differ from the 70601 normal, while zone vs. frost date explains why Zone 9a and Lake Charles's frost date answer different questions.